Local government in
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...
consists of
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
and
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
.
Counties
Municipalities
A municipality may call itself a:
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
,
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
, or
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. There is no distinction in the
statutes and no correlation to any particular form (Mayor-Council, Commission-Manager, etc.).
Unless provided otherwise in a municipality's charter, municipal elections are held on the first Tuesday in March of every even-numbered year. Elections are non-partisan, and election materials (cards, signs, ads, etc.) are exempted from the requirements for all other elections that the responsible party be identified (as in "paid for by Committee to Elect Joe Candidate").
Municipalities are governed under
Dillon's rule
John Forrest Dillon (December 25, 1831 – May 6, 1914) was an attorney in Iowa and New York, a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court and a United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Eighth Circuit. He authored a highly ...
, unless they elect to be governed by home rule. Currently, there are 10 home rule municipalities in New Mexico (
Alamogordo
Alamogordo () is the seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. A city in the Tularosa Basin of the Chihuahuan Desert, it is bordered on the east by the Sacramento Mountains and to the west by Holloman Air Force Base. The population was ...
,
Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
,
Clovis,
Gallup,
Grants
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
* Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
*Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
*Grant, Inyo County, ...
,
Hobbs,
Las Cruces,
Los Alamos,
Rio Rancho
Rio Rancho ( es, Río Rancho) is the most populous and only city in Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County.
It i ...
, and
Santa Fe), as well as two chartered cities (
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
and
Silver City).
School districts
Other bodies
In addition to municipalities, limited local authority can be vested in landowners' associations and districts. An example of the former is the Madrid Landowners' Association, which is the closest thing to local government in
Madrid, New Mexico
Madrid (/ˈmædrɪd/, Spanish: aˈðɾið is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, United States. It is part of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 149 at the 2000 census and 204 i ...
. Its authority comes from the
restrictive covenants that are written into all
deeds.
See also
*
Local government in the United States
Local government in the United States refers to governmental jurisdictions below the level of the state. Most states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities. Louisiana uses the term parish and Al ...
*
New Mexico Supreme Court Building
References
Further reading
* Chapter 6 focuses on local government.
New Mexico law
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